Providing electronic content based on sensor data

ABSTRACT

Techniques are described for using sensor data derived from a monitoring system to drive personalized content. Sensor data captured by a monitoring system may be used to determine attributes of users of the monitoring system and/or attributes of a property monitored by the monitoring system. The determined attributes may be used to select content to present to users of the monitoring system. Content presentation may be made through the monitoring system and may be triggered based on events detected by the monitoring system.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation (and claims the benefit of priorityunder 35 USC 120) of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/921,123, filed Oct.23, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/186,670, filed Feb. 21, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,171,321, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/970,202, filed Aug. 19,2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,659,417, issued Feb. 25, 2014, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/875,929, filed May 2, 2013,now U.S. Pat. No. 8,525,665, issued Sep. 3, 2013, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/255,919, filed Oct. 22,2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,456,293, issued Jun. 4, 2013, which claimspriority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/981,754, filed Oct. 22,2007, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/981,758, filed Oct. 22, 2007,and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/021,585, filed Jan. 16, 2008,the entire content of each of the prior applications is incorporatedherein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to providing electronic content based on sensordata.

BACKGROUND

Many people equip homes and businesses with alarm systems to provideincreased security for their homes and businesses. Alarm systems mayinclude control panels that a person may use to control operation of thealarm system and sensors that monitor for security breaches. In responseto an alarm system detecting a security breach, the alarm system maygenerate an audible alert and, if the alarm system is monitored by amonitoring service, the alarm system may send electronic data to themonitoring service to alert the monitoring service of the securitybreach.

SUMMARY

Implementations of the described techniques may include hardware, amethod or process implemented at least partially in hardware, or acomputer-readable storage medium encoded with executable instructionsthat, when executed by a processor, perform operations.

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in theaccompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will beapparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a process forproviding electronic content based on sensor data.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are block diagrams of example electronic systemsconfigured to provide electronic content based on sensor data.

FIG. 4 is flow chart illustrating an example of a process for providingpersonalized advertisement content through a security system interface.

FIG. 5A is a diagram of an example electronic system configured toselect personalized content based on customer profiles and contentcriteria.

FIG. 5B illustrates an example of a customer profile generated based oninformation received from a customer and sensor data received from amonitoring system.

FIG. 5C illustrates an example of advertisement criteria used to matchadvertisements to customers based on customer profiles.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a process forselecting personalized content and triggering distribution of thepersonalized content based on sensor data.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating examples of personalized contentpresentation using sensor data.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a process forcoordinating order fulfillment with respect to offers presented to acustomer based on sensor data.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are example user interfaces for coordinating orderfulfillment.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a process forproviding a reduced fee associated with an alarm system based on anagreement of a customer to allow advertising content to be presented tothe customer based on alarm system data.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Techniques are described for using sensor data derived from a monitoringsystem to drive personalized content. The described techniques mayprovide for additional monetization of the relationship that monitoringservice providers (e.g., security dealers) have with their customers byproviding personalized content to customers in a manner that leveragesthe presence of monitoring equipment (e.g., a capable liquid crystaldisplay (LCD)) in high-traffic areas of a property (e.g., a customer'shome) and the greater daily attention given to the monitoring system bycustomers who regularly interact with the system and receivenotifications from it.

In some implementations, an ad revenue model may include a syndicated,geo-coded advertising engine that determines a profile of a monitoredproperty (e.g., home) based on monitoring information obtained viasensor data captured by sensors included in the monitoring system. Theprofile may be used to provide valuable offers for goods and servicesthat are expected to be of interest to both advertisers offering thegoods and services and customers that are receiving the offers.

In these implementations, a detailed profile of a property (e.g., home)serviced by the monitoring service provider (e.g., security dealer) maybe developed. The monitoring service provider may track events capturedby sensors included in the monitoring system (e.g., patterns ofdoor/window openings, motion sensor detections, analysis ofvideo/photographic camera images, environmental sensor data, energyconsumption sensor data, health monitoring sensor data, etc.) and learnaspects of customers that use the property based on the tracked events.For instance, the monitoring service provider may be able to determinewhether the customer is home all day (e.g., motion sensors detectingactivity throughout the day), whether the customer likely has smallchildren or school-age children (e.g., sensor activity reflectsincreased activity that corresponds to typical school schedules),whether the customer appears to travel a lot (e.g., frequent periods inwhich a security system is armed in an away setting for several days),whether the customer likely is part of a two-income family (e.g., sensoractivity reflects two individuals coming and going from a home at timesconsistent with a typical work schedule), how much energy the customeruses (e.g., energy consumption sensor data measures energy use ofappliances or other devices in the home), whether the customer appearsto frequently go out to dinner (e.g., sensor activity indicates that thecustomer frequently leaves the home during typical dinner time hours),and whether a senior citizen is living in the home (e.g., presence ofhealth monitoring sensors and/or prescription drugs used by seniorcitizens). In other examples, the monitoring service provider may beable to determine the freshness of items in the customer's refrigerator,identify products used by the customer, determine the number/type ofvehicles owned by the customer and the location of the vehicles,determine the presence of a second home of the customer and itslocation, and determine the general status of operational and mechanicalsystems in the home.

Sensor technology may be leveraged to develop the detailed profile ofthe customer's property and, thereby, may be leveraged in targetingcontent (e.g., advertisements) to the customer. The richness of physicaldata related to the customer's interactions in the physical world that amonitoring service provider (e.g., security dealer) is able to captureand leverage to create a detailed profile for targeting electroniccontent (e.g., advertisements) may exceed, both in accuracy and detail,profile information developed by profiling online behavior and keywordsentered by users in an electronic environment.

Using the techniques described throughout the disclosure, a monitoringservice provider may use physical sensor data to provide customers withtimely and attractive services and offers. In some examples, the conceptof a “Daily Discount provided by a [Dealer]” may be provided. Customersmay agree to receive one valuable, highly targeted, local coupon perday, directly on an LCD display in or near their kitchen (or throughanother interface). For example, on Wednesday, the monitoring serviceprovider might track sensor data, and notice that nobody was home from4:00 pm to 6:00 pm and that someone arrived at 6:15 pm (e.g., motionsensors in the house did not detect motion from 4:00 to 6:00 pm and afront door contact sensor triggered at 6:15 pm). In this example, basedon the sensor data, the monitoring service provider determines that thecustomer might be hungry and without dinner, and present the dailydiscount of, “Large Pizza from A Local Pizzeria to your front door in 25minutes with special dealer discount.” The daily discount may beannounced by a beep of a speaker included in the monitoring system.

Advertisers may pay, on either an impression or “paid click” basis, forexample, to present targeted offers to customers local to theirbusiness. Accordingly, a monitoring service provider may provide asecurity sensor driven advertising engine and revenue model thatprovides personalized, relevant advertisements to customers in a settingin which the customer is likely to perceive the advertisements.

For instance, a security system provider may offer advertisers theability to provide targeted promotions by zip code, property type, orsubscription type to customers who have agreed to receive notifications(or other content) from the security system provider. The securitysystem provider may set standards for each promotional notification andgovern notification volume to maintain positive goodwill with itssubscribers (e.g., security system customers). The security systemprovider may allow advertisers to control the timing of advertisementsbased on events detected by the security system. For instance,advertisements may be timed based on a door or motion sensor detectingthat a user has entered a room. Advertisements or other electroniccontent also may be targeted and provided based on which sensor detectsan event. In one example, if a motion/door sensor detects a personentering a bedroom known to be a bedroom of a teenager, the securitysystem may provide an advertisement directed to a teenage audience. Inanother example, if a motion/door sensor detects a person entering abedroom known to be a bedroom of an adult, the security system mayprovide an advertisement directed to an adult audience.

In further implementations, a security system may be configured to offercapabilities that make the security system fully interactive, capable ofbeing controlled remotely through a Web or personal digital assistant(PDA) interface, and capable of allowing a customer to personalize theoperation of the security system by, for example, defining their ownthreats and alerts (e.g., custom threat alerting) for events that areimportant to the customer, but which may not represent alarm events(e.g., possible intrusions, fires, etc.) that require emergencypersonnel. For instance, a security system may be configured to allow auser of the security system to receive personalized peer to peermessages, personalized news content, personalized advertisements, orother electronic content through the security system. Security systempanels may include a standard, low-cost LCD interface (or otherelectronic display) and the electronic content may be displayed by thesecurity system on the LCD interface of the panel.

Another user may choose to leave a message for a user of the securitysystem by going to a secure website operated by, for example, a remotealarm or content server, typing in a message, and then instructing theremote system to submit the message to the LCD display when someoneenters the property. In this implementation, the remote system maymonitor for door sensor and/or motion sensor events that would indicatesomeone has entered the property, and may send the message and a commandto the alarm panel to produce a beep or some other audible notificationof the message in response to detecting that the property was accessed.

In some examples, security system features may be leveraged in providingand handling the electronic content. For instance, users may respond toelectronic messages sent to the security system using a keypad for thesecurity system and the security system may trigger the display ofelectronic content based on security system sensors (e.g., displayadvertisement/news content when a door sensor detects a door beingopened or a motion sensor detects presence of a person in a room).

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a process 100 for providing electroniccontent based on sensor data. The operations in flow chart 100 aredescribed generally as being performed by a processor. In someimplementations, the processor may be included in an electronic deviceor system configured to send and receive communications over a network.For instance, the processor may be included in a monitoring system, amonitoring application server, or another type of electronic deviceincluded in a system configured to monitor sensor data and selectelectronic content based on the monitored sensor data. The operations ofprocess 100 may be performed by multiple processors included in one ormore electronic devices or systems.

The processor receives sensor information from a monitoring systemassociated with a customer (110). For example, the processor receives,either directly or via a network, data communications from sensorsincluded in the monitoring system that are configured to sense physicalattributes of the physical world. The sensor information may includepresence monitoring events (e.g., contact sensor data, motion sensordata, video monitoring data, etc.), environmental sensor data (e.g.,temperature sensor data, air quality sensor data, water sensor data,etc.), energy consumption sensor data (e.g., energy consumed by aclimate control or a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC)system), health monitoring sensors (e.g., blood sugar monitors, bloodpressure monitors, etc.), radio frequency identification (RFID) sensordata (e.g., RFID tags may be applied to articles (e.g., a car or aprescription bottle) and RFID sensors may detect presence of thearticles), or any other sensor data related to physical attributescapable of being monitored using sensor technology. The sensorinformation may include a single detected event (e.g., a single contactsensor trigger) or series of detected events (e.g., a pattern of contactsensor triggers, a motion sensor trigger, and an RFID tagidentification). In addition, the sensor information may be direct datacaptured by the sensors or may be processed by the monitoring systemprior to being received by the processor. The monitoring system mayprocess sensor data by performing statistical calculations on the sensordata to identify trends within the data (e.g., based on sensor datacaptured during typical work days, a customer leaves the home throughthe front door on average at 8:26 am and enters the home through thefront door on average at 5:38 pm).

The processor receives customer information from the customer (120). Forinstance, the processor receives, either directly or via a network,customer information entered by the customer through an interface (e.g.,a Web interface). The processor also may receive customer informationfrom a third party source, a customer information database, or based oninput entered by a data entry technician entering information receivedfrom the customer in printed form or in voice communications. Thecustomer information may include data collected during installation orregistration of a monitoring system offered by a monitoring serviceprovider. For instance, the customer information may include personalinformation related to the customer (e.g., name, age, gender, address,employer, etc.) and also may include monitoring or content preferencesof the customer (e.g., custom alerts, preferred types of content,preferred content distribution medium, etc.).

In some examples, a user of a security system may personalize the typeof information that the user would like to receive (e.g.,advertisements, news content, weather content, electronic messages,etc.). For instance, a user may select a particular type of news contentor advertising content that the user wishes to receive and the contentprovided by the security system may be limited to the selected type ofcontent.

A user of the security system also may, via a web site, designate thetype of content and frequency of content delivery (including never) bywhich the user would like to receive information through the securitysystem (e.g., on their LCD display). Types of content may includeadvertising content, news content, personalized messaging content, orany other type of content available for provision using the securitysystem. The user may identify particular categories of content in whichthe user is interested (e.g., sports content), and/or brands or productsin which the user is interested (e.g., Coca-cola products or sodaproducts).

In some implementations, the user of the security system or an affiliateof the user may program the system through a remote web site to providethe user with a reminder of certain events. For example, the system maybe programmed to send the property occupier a message at predeterminedtimes each day to remind them of the need to take a prescriptionmedication.

The customer information further may include monitoring preferences ormonitoring equipment preferences of the customer. For example, thecustomer may indicate that the customer needs a pet sensitive motionsensor. In this example, the monitoring service provider may determinethat the customer has a pet and subscribe the customer for pet targetedcontent (e.g., pet food advertisements, veterinary serviceadvertisements, etc.)

The processor determines one or more attributes of the customer based onthe received sensor information and the received customer information(130). For example, the processor may determine a customer profile basedon the received sensor information and the received customerinformation. In this example, the customer profile may include thecustomer information received from the customer (e.g., name, age,gender, address, employer, etc.) and may include attributes of thecustomer inferred based on the customer information and/or inferred (ordirectly observed) based on the sensor data.

For instance, the processor may track sensor data received from themonitoring system and may compare the tracked sensor to patterns orrules that are used to identify attributes of the customer. In oneexample, the processor may identify patterns of contact sensor eventsand motion sensor events to identify a schedule of customers leaving andreturning to a home monitored by the monitoring system. In this example,the processor may compare the identified schedule to pre-determinedtypical schedules of customers with particular attributes and determinewhether the identified schedule matches one of the pre-determinedtypical schedules (e.g., if the identified schedule matches a typicalschool schedule, the processor determines that the customer hasschool-age children).

In some implementations, the processor may use video image data toconfirm attributes inferred using other sensor data or may deriveadditional attributes using video image data. In these implementations,the processor may analyze images captured by a video camera and useautomated analytic techniques to identify customer attributes. Forinstance, the processor may analyze images captured by thevideo/photographic camera to detect physical attributes of customers inthe household (e.g., height, weight, etc.) and the number of customersin the household. When sensor activity infers that a customer has smallchildren based on contact/motion sensor activity, video image analysismay be used to confirm that an individual with a size and shape of atypical small child is present in the house.

In other examples, products used by the customer may be identified usingautomated video analysis. In these examples, the processor may analyzevideo image data to identify common brand names or trademarks on goodsused by the customer. For instance, the processor may identify an imageof a brand name of a television included in the user's home, compare theimage of the brand name to common brand names of televisionmanufacturers, and determine the brand name of the television being usedby the user based on the comparison. The processor also may identifybrands or types of products used by the customer. As one example, theprocessor may analyze images of a customer making a peanut butter andjelly sandwich and detect that the customer is using a generic brand ofpeanut butter and that the jar being used by the customer is nearlyempty. In this example, the processor may determine to provide anadvertisement, from a brand name peanut butter manufacturer, thatincludes a discount coupon and that indicates that the price of thebrand name peanut butter with the discount coupon is less than a typicalprice of generic brand peanut butter.

The processor also may use a combination of the received customerinformation and the received sensor information to identify attributesof the customer. For example, the processor may use the age of thecustomer provided in the customer information in combination withphysical sensor data to infer an attribute of a customer. In thisexample, the processor may determine that a person is retired when theage of the customer provided in the customer information is greater thansixty years old and sensor data indicates that the customer isfrequently present in the home during the day. In another example, theprocessor may determine that a person is on disability leave when theage of the customer provided in the customer information is less thanfifty years old, sensor data indicates that the customer is frequentlypresent in the home during the day, and health monitoring sensors aremonitoring a medical condition of the customer.

Furthermore, the processor may infer aspects of the customer's propertybased on a combination of the received customer information and thereceived sensor information. For instance, the customer information mayindicate that the customer needs a pet sensitive motion sensor and thesensor data may track the customer leaving and returning to home througha front door for several relatively short periods (e.g., 5 to 10minutes) during the day. Based on this data, the processor may determinethat the pet of the customer is a dog that the customer is taking onwalks to go to the bathroom and, therefore, infer that the customer ownsa dog and target dog-related content to the customer. The processor alsomay infer that the customer does not have a fenced-in yard because thecustomer is frequently taking the dog on walks to go to the bathroom. Inthis case, the processor may target advertisements for fencinginstallation companies to the customer, but avoid providingadvertisements from fence painting companies to the customer unless thecustomer's monitored behavior changes in a manner that suggests thecustomer has installed a fence (e.g., times corresponding to when thecustomer walked the dog are replaced by opening and closing of a reardoor of the customer's house).

The processor compares the determined customer attributes withelectronic content criteria (140). For instance, the processor comparesattributes of the customer included in a determined customer profile tocriteria that is associated with available electronic content and thatdefines attributes of customers to which the content is targeted. Theavailable electronic content may include advertisement content, newscontent, entertainment content, or any other type of content theprocessor is capable of delivering.

The processor selects electronic content for the customer based on thecomparison of the determined customer attributes with electronic contentcriteria (150). For example, based on the comparison, the processoridentifies the available electronic content that most closely matchesthe customer attributes included in the customer's profile and selectsthe identified content. In this example, the processor uses informationknown or inferred about the customer to attempt to select content thatthe processor expects to match the interests of the customer.

The processor sends the selected electronic content to an interface usedby the customer (160). The processor may send the selected electroniccontent to any type of interface used by the customer over any type ofcommunication medium. The interface may be a display interface and theselected content may be visual content. The interface also may be aspeaker interface and the selected content may be audio content. Inaddition, the processor may send the selected electronic content over awired or wireless network (e.g., the Internet) using any type ofcommunication protocol. For instance, the selected electronic contentmay be delivered as an email message, a short messaging service (SMS) ortext message, an instant message, or using any other type of messagingprotocol.

In some examples, the selected electronic content is sent to themonitoring system for presentation on an interface controlled by themonitoring system (e.g., an electronic display in an alarm panel, aspeaker included in the monitoring system, another electronic displaydevice controlled by the monitoring system). In these examples, themonitoring system may present the electronic content upon receipt or maystore the electronic content for later presentation in response to adetected physical event. For instance, the monitoring system may storethe content and present the content in response to detecting a doorbeing opened after 2:00 pm. The monitoring system may store multipleinstances of selected content and chose which content to present andwhere to present the content based on a type of event detected and atime associated with the detected event.

Rich sensor data sets may be used to determine what content is relevantfor delivery to the customer, when to deliver the relevant content, andwhere to deliver the relevant content. The relevant content may bedelivered, for example, the first time a door is opened after systeminstallation. The content also may be delivered, for example, upondetection of the first door opening on a Saturday morning, or upondetection of the first disarm event of the weekend.

Using the techniques described above with respect to FIG. 1, a remotecontent provisioning system may automatically personalize theinformation that is delivered to a customer of a monitoring system. Forinstance, a remote content server may know the location of themonitoring system and provide weather alert content that is unique tothat location. In some examples, the remote content server may targetadvertisements to the monitoring system based on information known aboutthe user of the security system (e.g., information gathered duringpurchases of the security system) or aggregated information related tothe response to monitoring system advertisements provided throughmonitoring systems of other users that are located in a similargeographic area or users that share other common characteristics. Theremote content server may provide the user with updated traffic alertsor driving direction information through the monitoring system when themonitoring system detects that the user is leaving his or her house.

Further, the remote content server may provide the user with homelandsecurity or other critical alerts (e.g., severe weather, alerts coveredby an Emergency Broadcast System, etc.). For instance, the remotecontent server may provide alerts related to terrorist attacks andprovide instructions for how people should respond to the attacks (e.g.,stay in home, evacuate, etc.). The monitoring system may be configuredto receive alert messages even when the main power supply is out andcommunication of alert messages to monitoring systems may be prioritizedby communication providers in emergency situations.

A message from a remote content provider may be designed so that theprovider causes a speaker in the monitoring system (e.g., a speaker inan alarm panel) to beep or emit some other audible notification one ormultiple times to indicate to the user that a message (or other content)has been received. In some implementations, other types of alerts may beused to notify a user that a message (or other content) has beenreceived and multiple types of alerts may be provided to enable the userto determine the type or level of urgency of the message (or othercontent). For example, the security system may not emit any audiblenotification or beep when general news content is received, may emit asingle audible notification or beep when a normal electronic message isreceived, may emit two successive audible notifications or beep when amessage marked with high importance is received, and may fully activatethe alarm siren when an emergency broadcast system or other criticalalert is received. The tone or volume of the audible notification orbeep also may change to distinguish different types of messages. Otheralerting mechanisms may be used and the alert may be provided throughouta building being monitored by the monitoring system or through a clientdevice of the user (e.g., a computer, a phone, a PDA, etc.).

A monitoring system provider may remotely send an alert message to themonitoring system for display on, for example, an LCD display on acontrol panel. The alert message may remind the customer to do thingssuch as test their system or pay their monitoring bill. The monitoringsystem may be configured to provide the user with a message to activatethe monitoring function of the security system if the security system isnot activated at a particular time of night.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an electronic system 200 configured toprovide electronic content based on sensor data. The electronic system200 includes a network 205, a monitoring system 210, a monitoringapplication server 230, and a client device 240. The network 205facilitates communications between the monitoring system 210, themonitoring application server 230, and the client device 240.

The network 205 is configured to enable exchange of electroniccommunications between devices connected to the network 205. Forexample, the network 205 may be configured to enable exchange ofelectronic communications between the monitoring system 210, themonitoring application server 230, and the client device 240. Thenetwork 205 may include, for example, one or more of the Internet, WideArea Networks (WANs), Local Area Networks (LANs), analog or digitalwired and wireless telephone networks (e.g., a public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN), Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), a cellularnetwork, and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)), radio, television, cable,satellite, or any other delivery or tunneling mechanism for carryingdata. Network 205 may include multiple networks or subnetworks, each ofwhich may include, for example, a wired or wireless data pathway. Thenetwork 205 may include a circuit-switched network, a packet-switcheddata network, or any other network able to carry electroniccommunications (e.g., data or voice communications). For example, thenetwork 205 may include networks based on the Internet protocol (IP),asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), the PSTN, packet-switched networksbased on IP, X.25, or Frame Relay, or other comparable technologies andmay support voice using, for example, VoIP, or other comparableprotocols used for voice communications. The network 205 may include oneor more networks that include wireless data channels and wireless voicechannels.

The monitoring system 210 may be any type of electronic system thatincludes at least one sensor 220 configured to sense at least onephysical attribute. The monitoring system 210 may be an alarm system, asecurity system, a personal emergency response system, etc. In someimplementations, the monitoring system 210 includes a control unit orprocessor configured to receive sensor data from the at least one sensor220, process the received sensor data, and send, over the network 205,data communications to devices connected to the network 205 based on thesensor data. In other implementations, at least one sensor 220communicates, over the network 205, sensor data directly to devicesconnected to the network 205. In these implementations, the at least onesensor 220 may use radio frequency (RF) technology to communicatedirectly with other devices. The monitoring system 210 may be acollection of sensors 220, which monitor the state of a property.

The at least one sensor 220 may include a contact sensor, a motionsensor, a glass break sensor, or any other type of sensor included in analarm system or security system. The at least one sensor also mayinclude an environmental sensor, such as a temperature sensor, a watersensor, a rain sensor, a wind sensor, a light sensor, a smoke detector,a carbon monoxide detector, an air quality sensor, etc. The at least onesensor further may include a health monitoring sensor, such as aprescription bottle sensor that monitors taking of prescriptions, ablood pressure sensor, a blood sugar sensor, a bed mat configured tosense presence of liquid (e.g., bodily fluids) on the bed mat, etc. Insome examples, the at least one sensor may include a radio-frequencyidentification (RFID) sensor that identifies a particular article thatincludes a pre-assigned RFID tag. In addition, the at least one sensormay include a video/photographic camera or other type of optical sensingdevice configured to capture images and may include an energyconsumption sensor for appliances and devices in a property monitored bythe monitoring system 210.

The monitoring application server 230 is an electronic device configuredto execute programs and exchange communications with the monitoringsystem 210 and the client device 240 over the network 205. For example,the monitoring application server 230 may be configured to execute aprogram that provides monitoring services and provides personalizedrelevant electronic content based on sensor data received from themonitoring system 210. In this example, the monitoring applicationserver 230 may exchange communications with the monitoring system 210 toreceive sensor data and may exchange communications with the clientdevice 240 to present, to a user, personalized relevant electroniccontent that is selected based on the received sensor data.

The monitoring application server 230 may provide an email address (orother communication address) which may be used by others to sendmessages to the monitoring system 210 or the client device 240. Themonitoring application server 230 may receive messages and deliver themessages to the customer of the monitoring system 210. The messagerecipient of the message sent to the monitoring system 210 may beallowed to respond to the message using the monitoring system 210 in avariety of ways. For example, the message recipient may key in aresponse on the control panel keypad, may hit a button to activate thepanel speaker and then speak a response which is relayed through themonitoring application server 230 to the original message author (orconverted to text and sent to the original message author), or use thepanel speaker to create a phone call between the person at the controlpanel and another person at a designated phone number.

The client device 240 may be a general-purpose computer (e.g., a desktoppersonal computer, a workstation, or a laptop computer) that isconfigured to communicate with the monitoring application server 230over the network 205. In some implementations, the client device 240 maybe a mobile or wireless device or a device designed for a specificfunction. For example, the client device 240 may include a cell phone, asmart phone, a tablet PC, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or anyother portable device configured to communicate over a network anddisplay information. For instance, the client device 240 also mayinclude a portable email communication device, an electronic organizer,a portable music player, another type of communication device, and ahandheld or portable electronic device for gaming, communications,and/or data organization.

The client device 240 may be configured to interact with a userinterface provided by the monitoring application server 230. Forexample, the client device 240 may be configured to display a userinterface (e.g., a web page) provided by the monitoring applicationserver 230 that enables a user to input data associated with themonitoring system 210 and content provided by the monitoring applicationserver 230. In this example, the user may control the monitoring system210 using the client device 240.

In some implementations, the client device 240 is connected to themonitoring system 210 and may receive content through the monitoringsystem 210. In these implementations, the client device 240 may be analarm panel included in the monitoring system 210 or may be a television(or other device with an electronic display) included in a propertymonitored by the monitoring system 210.

The client device 240 includes an input/output (I/O) device 250, whichis configured to receive user input and provide output. For example, theI/O device 250 may include a mouse, a keyboard, a stylus, a touchscreen, a track ball, a toggle control, one or more user input buttons,a microphone, or any other device that allows a user to input data intothe client device 240 or otherwise communicate with the client device240.

The I/O device 250 also may include a device configured to outputcontent. For instance, the I/O device 250 may include a display deviceconfigured to display graphical user interfaces that enable a user toperceive electronic content or monitoring system 210 alerts. The I/Odevice 250 also may include a speaker configured to provide audibleoutput related to electronic content or monitoring system 210 alerts.

FIG. 3 illustrates another example of an electronic system 300configured to provide electronic content based on sensor data. Theelectronic system 300 includes a network 305, an alarm panel 310, annetwork operations center 340, and an advertisement management server350. The network 305 facilitates communications between the alarm panel310 and the network operations center 340.

The network 305 is configured to enable exchange of electroniccommunications between devices connected to the network 305. The network305 may be a wireless network, a broadband network, or a combination ofnetworks including a wireless network and a broadband network. In someimplementations, the network 305 may be similar to the network 205described above with respect to FIG. 2.

The alarm panel 310 includes a controller 312, a network module 314, andan electronic display 316. The controller 312 is configured to controlan alarm system that includes the alarm panel 310. In some examples, thecontroller 312 may include a processor or other control circuitryconfigured to execute instructions of a program that controls operationof an alarm system. In these examples, the controller 312 may beconfigured to receive input from sensors, detectors, or other devicesincluded in the alarm system and control operations of devices includedin the alarm system. For example, the controller 312 may be configuredto control operation of the network module 314, and the electronicdisplay 316 included in the alarm panel 310.

The network module 314 is a communication device configured to exchangecommunications over the network 305. The network module 314 may be awireless communication module configured to exchange wirelesscommunications over the network 305. For example, the network module 314may be a wireless communication device configured to exchangecommunications over a wireless data channel and a wireless voicechannel. In this example, the network module 314 may transmit alarm dataover a wireless data channel and establish a two-way voice communicationsession over a wireless voice channel. The wireless communication devicemay include one or more of a GSM module, a radio modem, cellulartransmission module, or any type of module configured to exchangecommunications in one of the following formats: GSM or GPRS, CDMA, EDGEor EGPRS, EV-DO or EVDO, UMTS, or IP.

The network module 314 also may be a wired communication moduleconfigured to exchange communications over the network 305 using a wiredconnection. For instance, the network module 314 may be a modem, anetwork interface card, or another other type of network interfacedevice. The network module 314 may be an Ethernet network cardconfigured to enable the alarm panel to communicate over a local areanetwork and/or the Internet. The network module 314 also may be avoiceband modem configured to enable the alarm panel to communicate overthe telephone lines of Plain Old Telephone Systems (POTS).

The alarm panel 310 includes an electronic display 316. The electronicdisplay 316 may be any type of electronic display configured to render avisually perceivable display of information (e.g., an LCD display, aplasma display, etc.). The electronic display 316 may be used to depictthe current state of the alarm system. For example, the LCD display maydisplay words like “System Disarmed 6:42 pm”, or “Enter User Code toDisarm”, or “Front Door Opened”. The electronic display 316 also may beused to display electronic content, such as advertisement content, newscontent, weather content, and entertainment content.

The alarm system that includes the alarm panel 310 includes one or moresensors or detectors. For example, the alarm system may include multiplesensors 320 and 322. The sensors 320 and 322 may be contact sensors,motion sensors, glass breaker sensors, temperature sensors, smokesensors, carbon monoxide sensors, panic button sensors, or any othertype of sensor that senses an environmental or physical condition. Thesensors 320 and 322 communicate with the controller 312 overcommunication links 324 and 326. The communication links 324 and 326 maybe a wired or wireless data pathway configured to transmit signals fromthe sensors 320 and 322 to the controller 312. The sensors 320 and 322may continuously transmit sensed values to the controller 312,periodically transmit sensed values to the controller 312, or transmitsensed values to the controller 312 in response to a change in a sensedvalue. The controller 312 may receive signals from the sensors 320 and322 and detect an alarm event based on the sensed values. For example,the sensor 320 may be a contact sensor provided on a door to a residenceand the communication link 324 may be a wireless connection between thesensor 320 and the controller 312. In this example, the sensor 220 maysense that the door has been opened (e.g., absence of a connectionbetween contacts included as part of the sensor) and wirelessly transmitdata over communication link 324 to the controller 312 indicating thatthe door has been opened. The controller 312 receives the data from thesensor 320 over the communication link 324 and determines that an alarmevent (e.g., the door opened) has occurred based on the signal from thesensor 320. The controller 312 controls operation of the alarm systembased on the determination that the alarm event has occurred.

The alarm system also includes a speaker 330. The speaker 330 mayinclude an electromechanical transducer that converts an electricalsignal into sound. The speaker 330 may receive an electrical signal fromthe controller 312 and produce an audible output based on the electricalsignal. For example, the controller 312, in response to detecting analarm event, may send a signal to the speaker 330 to cause the speakerto produce an audible alarm sound. The speaker 330 also may output audiomessages (e.g., audio advertisements, broadcast audio alerts, etc.). Inanother example, the controller 312 may send a signal representative ofa voice communication to the speaker 330 to cause the speaker to producean audible output of the voice communication. In this example, thecontroller 312 may control the network module 314 to establish a voicecommunication session over a wireless voice channel and provide anelectrical signal to the speaker 330 to cause the speaker to produce anaudible output of voice communications received in the voicecommunication session by the network module 314. In someimplementations, the speaker 330 may be provided in the alarm panel 330.In other implementations, the speaker 330 may be positioned in alocation separate from the alarm panel 310 such that the speaker 330 mayhave a coverage area that is different from the location of the alarmpanel 310. In these implementations, the alarm system may includemultiple speakers to provide a larger coverage area, such as an entirebuilding the alarm system is monitoring or areas proximate to all of thesensors included in the alarm system.

The alarm panel 310 also may control a microphone. The microphone mayinclude an acoustic to electronic transducer or sensor that convertssound into an electrical signal. The microphone may sense sound (e.g.,from a person speaking proximate to the microphone) and produce anelectrical signal based on the sound. For example, the microphone maysense sound produced in an area proximate to the microphone and send asignal representative of the sound to the controller 312. The controller312 may determine a user input control based on the signal or providethe signal to the network module 314 to include as a voice communicationin a voice communication session established by the network module 314with another entity (e.g., a monitoring station). In some examples, themicrophone may transmit the electrical signal directly to the networkmodule 314 instead of transmitting the signal through the controller312. In further implementations, the microphone may be positioned in alocation separate from the alarm panel such that the microphone may havea coverage area that is different from the location of the alarm panel.In these implementations, the alarm system may include multiplemicrophones to provide a larger coverage area, such as an entirebuilding the alarm system is monitoring or areas proximate to all of thesensors included in the alarm system.

The alarm system also includes an alternative display 332. Thealternative display 332 may be any type of electronic display configuredto render a visually perceivable display of information (e.g., an LCDdisplay, a plasma display, a television, a computer monitor, a digitalpicture frame, a display integrated into an appliance, a displayincluded in a portable device of a user, a mirror, a projection displaydevice, etc.).

In some examples, the alarm system may be configured to control adisplay separate from the alarm panel 310 (e.g., a separate displayprovided as part of the security system or a television, a computermonitor, etc. that is not part of the security system, but a device withwhich the security system may communicate). Multiple mechanisms ordevices to provide electronic content may be used by the security systemand may be positioned throughout a building being monitored by thesecurity system.

The alarm panel 310 communicates with the speaker 330 and thealternative display 332 over communication links 334 and 336. Thecommunication links 334 and 336 may be similar to the communicationlinks 324 and 326 described above.

The network operations center 340 is an electronic device (e.g., aserver, host, etc.) configured to provide alarm monitoring services byexchanging electronic communications with the alarm panel 310 over thenetwork 305. For example, the network operations center 340 may beconfigured to monitor alarm events generated by the alarm panel 310. Inthis example, the network operations center 340 may exchange electroniccommunications with the network module 314 included in the alarm panel310 to receive information regarding alarm events detected by the alarmpanel 310. The network operations center 340 may receive informationregarding alarm events from the network module 314 in wireless datacommunications transmitted over a wireless data channel or may receiveinformation regarding alarm events from the network module 314 in datacommunications transmitted over a wired connection. Panel and sensorinformation may be stored and processed in the network operations center340. The information may be used to select personalized, relevantadvertisements to provide to the customer's alarm system.

In some examples, the network operations center 340 may route the alarmdata received from the network module 314 to a security monitoringsystem. For example, the network operations center 340 may transmit thealarm data to the security monitoring system over the network 305. Thenetwork operations center 340 may add information to the alarm datareceived from the network module 314 and may convert or transform thealarm data into a format used by the security monitoring system. Thenetwork operations center 340 may provide security monitoring servicesdirectly without the use of a separate security monitoring system.

The network operations center 340 also may facilitate establishment of avoice communication session between a remote user device (e.g., a deviceof a monitoring system operator, a device of the owner of the alarmsystem, a device of vendor providing an offer through the alarm panel310, etc.) and the network module 314 included in the alarm panel 310.For example, the network operations center 340 may provide telephoneinformation to the remote user or the network module 314 for use inestablishing a voice communication session.

The advertisement management server 350 is an electronic device (e.g., aserver, host, etc.) configured to provide advertising services byexchanging electronic communications with the network operations center340. For instance, the advertisement management server 350 may receive,from the network operations center 340, criteria used to select anadvertisement. The received criteria may include customer profileinformation derived from customer information provided by the customerand sensor information that is based on the customer's physicalinteractions monitored by the alarm system. The advertisement managementserver 350 may include a processor that compares the received criteriato attributes of available advertisements, selects an advertisementbased on the comparison, and sends the selected advertisement to thenetwork operations center 340 for delivery to the alarm panel 310. Theadvertisement management server 350 may include an electronic data store(e.g., a database) in which the advertisement management server 350stores available advertising content and accesses selectedadvertisements to provide to the network operations center 340. Storedadvertisements may include information related to the advertiser, atimeframe of the advertisement, and messaging information defining howthe advertisement is to be delivered. The advertisement managementserver 350 may manage and provide the available advertisements based onthis information (e.g., the advertisement management server 350 maydelete advertisements when the time frame expires). The advertisingmanagement server 350 may offer a website by which advertisers maydesign campaigns.

The advertising content administrator 360 manages the content of theadvertisement management server 350. For instance, the advertisingcontent administrator 360 may add new advertisements to advertisementmanagement server 350, and update current advertisements previouslyavailable in the advertisement management server 350. For a givenadvertisement, the advertising content administrator 360 may define thecriteria used by the advertisement management server 350 in selectingthe advertisement. For example, the advertising content administrator360 may define criteria that targets the advertisement to specific typesof customers. The defined criteria may be based on the types of customerinformation or attributes that can be determined using any combinationof the sensor information gathered from the alarm panel 310, user inputfrom the network operations center 340 website, any other source ofcustomer information, and other attributes that inform the desirabilityof a particular advertisement.

The advertisers 370 provide advertising content to the advertisingcontent administrator 360 for addition (or updates) to the availableadvertising content. The advertisers 370 provide details related to theadvertisement and criteria that the advertisers 370 would like theadvertisement management server 350 to use in selecting the advertisingcontent. The content administrator 360 determines whether theadvertising content should be added to the available advertising contentand negotiates a fee arrangement with the advertisers 370.

The advertisers 370 may be associated with product manufacturers, retailestablishments, or advertising agencies. To that end, a manufacturer,retailer, or advertisement agency may send a request to add advertisingcontent or may send a batch file of advertisements/coupons. The contentadministrator 360 selects an appropriate manufacturer for which to addadvertising content, and updates the advertisement management server 350using the advertising content.

The operations described above as being performed by the advertisingcontent administrator 360 and the advertisers 370 may be performed byelectronic systems automatically, without human intervention. In someexamples, the operations described above by the advertising contentadministrator 360 and the advertisers 370 may be performed by electronicsystems in response to user input provided by individuals.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a process 400 for providingpersonalized advertisement content through a security system interface.For convenience, particular components described with respect to FIG. 3are referenced as performing the process 400. However, similarmethodologies may be applied in other implementations where differentcomponents are used to define the structure of the system, or where thefunctionality is distributed differently among the components.

The alarm panel 310 accesses sensor data (402). For example, the alarmpanel 310 may receive a signal from the sensor 320 over thecommunication link 324. The signal may provide information associatedwith an alarm event, a security breach, a physical presence detection, avideo signal, an environmental condition, a health monitoring event, aRFID tag identification, or an energy consumption condition. Forinstance, the sensor 320 may be a contact sensor attached to a door andthe signal may be a signal that the contact has been broken (e.g., thatthe door has been opened). In other examples, the sensor 320 may be asmoke detector and the signal may indicate that smoke has been detectedby the smoke detector or the sensor 320 may be a motion detector and thesignal may indicate that motion has been detected by the motiondetector.

The alarm panel 310 sends the accessed sensor data to the networkoperations center 340 over the network 305 (404). For example, thenetwork module 314 may transmit the sensor data (or a processed versionof the sensor data) to the network operations center 340 over thenetwork 305. In some implementations, the network module 314 may sendthe sensor data in Internet Protocol (IP) packets over the network 305or may send the sensor data in an SMS message over the network 305.

The sensor data includes information sufficient for the networkoperations center 340 to identify the customer associated with thesensor data and identify one or more events detected by the alarm panel310. For instance, the sensor data may include information identifyingthe alarm panel 310, the user of the alarm panel 310, or the locationassociated with the alarm panel 310. The sensor data also may include acustomer account number with which the network operations center 340 mayaccess stored information associated with the customer's account. Inaddition, the sensor data may include information indicating the type ofevent detected and the specific sensor or detected condition thattriggered the event (e.g., basement door sensor, third floor smokedetector, etc.).

The network operations center 340 accesses customer data (406). Thenetwork operations center 340 may access stored customer data fromelectronic storage associated with the network operations center 340.The network operations center 340 may receive customer data usingtechniques similar to those described above with respect to referencenumeral 120.

The network operations center 340 receives the sensor data sent by thealarm panel 310 (408). For instance, the network operations center 340receives the sensor data over the network 305 using a network interface.Upon receipt of the sensor data, the network operations center 340processes the sensor data to determine information associated with theevent or series of events detected by the alarm panel 310. In someimplementations, the network operations center 340 extracts an accountnumber from the sensor data and accesses, from electronic storageassociated with the network operations center 340, informationassociated with the account number (e.g., the accessed customer datafrom reference numeral 406).

The network operations center 340 compares the sensor data to profilingdata (410) and determines attributes of the customer based on thecomparison (412). For instance, the network operations center 340accesses profiling data that includes pre-determined profiles of sensordata associated with individuals with certain attributes and comparesthe sensor data to the profiling data to determine whether the sensordata matches one of the pre-determined profiles. When the sensor datamatches (or closely matches) one of the pre-determined profiles, thenetwork operations center 340 determines that the customer hasattributes corresponding to typical attributes of individuals associatedwith the matched profile.

For instance, when the sensor data indicates that the customer has beenaway from the customer's home for several hours and arrives at around6:00 pm, the network operations center 340 may determine that the sensordata matches a profile of individuals that are just home with no dinnerbecause individuals that arrive at home with no dinner typically havesimilar sensor data. The just home with no dinner profile represents ashort term attribute the network operations center 340 may determine forthe customer.

When the sensor data indicates that weekday (i.e., Monday throughFriday) sensor activity increases within two hours after 2:15 pm, thenetwork operations center 340 may determine that the sensor data matchesa profile of individuals that have school-age children becauseindividuals that have school-age children typically have increases insensor activity within two hours after 2:15 pm. The school-age childrenprofile represents a long term attribute the network operations center340 may determine for the customer.

The network operations center 340 determines a customer profile based onthe attributes of the customer determined based on the sensor data andthe accessed customer data (414) and makes customer profile dataaccessible to the advertisement management server 350 (416). Forexample, the network operations center 340 may determine a customerprofile that includes attributes of customer included in the accessedcustomer data (e.g., name, age, gender, address, employer, etc.) andalso includes the attributes of the customer determined based on thereceived sensor data (e.g., just home with no dinner, school-agechildren, etc.). The network operations center 340 may make the customerprofile data accessible to the advertisement management server 350 bysending the customer profile data to the advertisement management server350 in electronic communications or storing the customer profile data inelectronic storage accessible by the advertisement management server350.

The advertisement management server 350 manages advertising content(418). For instance, the advertisement management server 350 manages adatabase of available advertising content. The advertisement managementserver 350 may add new advertising content, update outdated advertisingcontent, and remove expired advertising content. The advertisementmanagement server 350 also may define criteria that is used to selecteach of the advertisements included in the database of availableadvertising content.

The advertisement management server 350 accesses the customer profiledata made accessible by the network operations center 340 (420). Theadvertisement management server 350 may access the customer profile datamade accessible by the network operations center 340 by receiving thecustomer profile data in electronic communications sent by the networkoperations center 340 or accessing the customer profile data fromelectronic storage accessible by the advertisement management server 350in which the network operations center 340 stored the customer profiledata.

The advertisement management server 350 compares the accessed customerprofile data to advertisement criteria (422) and, based on thecomparison of the accessed customer profile data to the advertisementcriteria, the advertisement management server 350 selects anadvertisement to deliver to the customer (424). After accessing thecustomer profile data, the advertisement management server 350 comparesthe accessed customer profile data to advertisement criteria to selectan available advertisement that may be of interest to the customer. Forinstance, the advertisement management server 350 may select anadvertisement for a Chinese restaurant with delivery service to an areathat includes customer's house when the customer profile data indicatesthat the customer is just home with no dinner. In another example, theadvertisement management server 350 may select an advertisement forschool supplies when the customer profile data indicates that thecustomer has school-age children and the start of a new school year isapproaching.

The advertisement management server 350 sends the selected advertisementto the network operations center 340 over the network 305 (426). Forexample, the advertisement management server 350 may transmit theselected advertisement to the network operations center 340 using wiredor wireless data communications.

The network operations center 340 receives the selected advertisementsent by the advertisement management server 350 (428) and determinespresentation criteria related to the selected advertisement (430). Thenetwork operations center 340 may, based on the selected advertisement,determine a type of device or communication medium with which to presentthe selected advertisement and determine other presentation options.

For example, when the selected advertisement is directed to a short termneed of the customer, the network operations center 340 may determine topresent the selected advertisement using an electronic display in anarea in which the user is detected by the alarm panel 310 and alsoprovide an audible alert to indicate to the customer that theadvertisement is being presented. In this example, the networkoperations center 340 may determine that the advertisement for theChinese restaurant with delivery service to an area that includescustomer's house fulfills a short term need of the customer. Based onthe determination that the advertisement for the Chinese restaurantfulfills a short term need, the network operations center 340 maydetermine to present the advertisement for the Chinese restaurant on theelectronic display 316 of the alarm panel 310 when the customer isdetected to be near the alarm panel 310 and also activate the speaker330 to produce an audible alert to direct the user's attention to theadvertisement for the Chinese restaurant.

In another example, when the selected advertisement is directed to along term need of the customer, the network operations center 340 maydetermine to present the selected advertisement using a mechanism thatis less intrusive and with which the customer may review the selectedadvertisement at the user's convenience. In this example, the networkoperations center 340 may determine that the advertisement for theschool supplies fulfills a long term need of the customer. Based on thedetermination that the advertisement for the school supplies fulfills along term need, the network operations center 340 may determine topresent the advertisement for the school supplies on the alternativedisplay 332 (e.g., as an email communication to the customer's computer)and determine not to produce an audible alert to direct the user'sattention to the advertisement for the school supplies.

The network operations center 340 sends the selected advertisement andthe determined presentation criteria to the alarm panel 310 over thenetwork 305 (432) and the alarm panel 310 receives the selectedadvertisement and the determined presentation criteria sent by thenetwork operations center 340 (434). For example, the network operationscenter 340 may send the selected advertisement and the determinedpresentation criteria over the network 305 and the network module 314may receive the selected advertisement and the determined presentationcriteria from the network 305.

The alarm panel 310 presents the advertisement based on the presentationcriteria (436). The alarm panel 310 may, upon receipt, immediatelypresent the advertisement on the output device defined by thepresentation criteria and with characteristics (e.g., a audible alert)defined by the presentation criteria. In some implementations, the alarmpanel 310 may, upon receipt, store the advertisement in electronicstorage and wait for additional events defined by the presentationcriteria. In these implementations, the presentation criteria may definethat the advertisement is to be presented in response to a specific doorbeing opened during a specific time frame. In this regard, the alarmpanel 310 may monitor sensor data and, if the alarm panel 310 determinesthat the specific door is opened during the specific time frame based onthe sensor data, the alarm panel 310 triggers presentation of theadvertisement.

FIG. 5A illustrates an electronic system 500 configured to selectpersonalized content based on customer profiles and content criteria.The electronic system 500 includes a network operations center 530 andan advertisement management server 540. The network operations center530 may be similar to the network operations center 340 described abovewith respect to FIG. 3 and the advertisement management server 540 maybe similar to the advertisement management server 350 described abovewith respect to FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the network operations center 530 receives inputsfrom the alarm panel 510 and the alarm service provider customerinterface 520. The alarm panel 510 information may include panel,sensor, and advertisement status information. The panel stateinformation indicates whether the system is armed or disarmed, and thesensor state information may be open, closed in the case of doorsensors, but may also indicate temperature, or the presence of water.The sensor state information may include information related to any ofthe sensed attributes described throughout this disclosure.

The current advertisement status information may indicate whether amessage is currently being displayed on an electronic display of thealarm panel 510 and indicate how long the current message has beendisplayed. The network operations center 530 may use the currentadvertisement status information to determine whether to present aparticular advertisement or change the currently presentedadvertisement. For instance, when the currently displayed advertisementhas only been displayed for a few seconds, the network operations center530 may determine not to change the advertisement, even though thesensor state information indicates that a new event has been detectedthat would normally result in presentation of an advertisement.

The alarm service provider customer interface 520 may provideinformation such as online usage information, customer locationinformation, and alarm and non-alarm notification history information. Acustomer also may enter preferences through the alarm service providercustomer interface 520 indicating interest in certain advertisements.The information provided through the alarm service provider customerinterface 520 supplements panel and sensor data for use by the networkoperations center 530 in delivering customized advertisements.

The network operations center 530 may use the inputs received from thealarm panel 510 and the alarm service provider customer interface 520 tobuild a customer profile 532. The customer profile 532 then may bematched against a set of criteria 534 established by the advertisementmanagement server 540. Based on this analysis, the network operationscenter 530 (or the advertisement management server 540) may identify asubset of advertisements 536 meeting criteria included in the customerprofile 532. Of the available advertisements 536, the network operationscenter 530 (or the advertisement management server 540) may select someor all of the advertisements 538 based on established parameters such ascost of advertisements, customer advertisement history, etc. Theavailable advertisements criteria may be further vetted until only oneadvertisement is chosen.

The network operations center 530 (or the advertisement managementserver 540) delivers a selected advertisement to the alarm panel 510over a secure wireless or broadband network using a network interfacemodule 550. Once at the alarm panel 510, the selected advertisement maybe shown on an electronic display included in the alarm panel 510. Theadvertisement also may be delivered as a voice recording over a speakersystem included in the alarm system.

FIG. 5B shows a customer profile 532 generated based on informationreceived from a customer and sensor data received from a monitoringsystem. The customer profile 532 includes multiple attributes 561 to 569that may be determined based on information received from the alarmpanel 510 and information received from the alarm service providercustomer interface 520. For instance, the customer profile 532 includesa name attribute 561, an address attribute 562, a gender attribute 563,an at home attribute 564, a working empty nester attribute 565, achildren attribute 566, a just home with no dinner attribute 567, acurrently relaxed attribute 568, and a large home attribute 569. Thename attribute 561, the address attribute 562, and the gender attribute563 are attributes that are determined using information received fromthe alarm service provider customer interface 520. The at home attribute564, the just home with no dinner attribute 567, and the currentlyrelaxed attribute 568 are attributes that are determined usinginformation received from the alarm panel 510. The working empty nesterattribute 565, the children attribute 566, and the large home attribute569 may determined using information received from the alarm panel 510and/or information received from the alarm service provider customerinterface 520.

FIG. 5C shows advertisement criteria 534 used to match advertisements tocustomers based on customer profiles. The advertisement criteria 534includes multiple attributes 571 to 579 that may be used to selectcustomers for delivery of the advertisement associated with theadvertisement criteria 534. For instance, the advertisement criteria 534includes a brand/product attribute 571, a geographic region attribute572, a targeted gender attribute 573, an at home attribute 574, aworking empty nester attribute 575, a children attribute 576, a justhome with no dinner attribute 577, a currently relaxed attribute 578,and a large home attribute 579.

As shown, the attributes included in the advertisement criteria 534 mayinclude a variety of values that may be used to select customers toreceive the advertisement. The brand/product attribute 571 identifiesthe type of advertisement and may be compared to customer preferences todetermine whether a customer prefers or does not prefer the type ofadvertisement associated with the advertisement criteria 534. Becausethe example customer profile 532 shown in FIG. 5B does not includecustomer preference information, the brand/product attribute 571 doesnot inform the decision of whether to select the advertisement for thecustomer associated with the customer profile 532.

The geographic region attribute 572 identifies the geographic region towhich the advertisement is applicable. In the example shown in FIG. 5C,the geographic region attribute 572 indicates that the advertisement isapplicable to the entire United States (e.g., the advertisement isprovided by a national pizza delivery chain). Because the addressattribute 562 included in the example customer profile 532 shown in FIG.5B corresponds to a geographic location within the geographic regiondefined by the geographic region attribute 572, the advertisementremains a possible selection for the customer associated with thecustomer profile 532.

The targeted gender attribute 573 specifies a gender to which theadvertisement is applicable. In the example shown in FIG. 5C, thetargeted gender attribute 573 indicates that neither gender is preferredor that the advertisement is applicable to any gender and does notinform the decision of whether to select the advertisement. In otherexamples, advertisements may be for gender-specific products (e.g.,female hygiene products) or targeted to specific genders and the genderattribute 563 may inform the decision of whether to select theadvertisement.

The at home attribute 574 and the just home with no dinner attribute 577are defined as required attributes in the advertisement criteria 534.Accordingly, the advertisement associated with the advertisementcriteria 534 is only provided to a customer with a profile thatindicates sensor data received from the customer's alarm panel matches aprofile of a customer that is at home and just home with no dinner.Because the at home attribute 564 and the just home with no dinnerattribute 567 included in the example customer profile 532 shown in FIG.5B indicate that the customer is at home and just home with no dinner,the advertisement remains a possible selection for the customerassociated with the customer profile 532.

The working empty nester attribute 575 and the currently relaxedattribute 578 are defined as undesired attributes in the advertisementcriteria 534. Accordingly, the advertisement associated with theadvertisement criteria 534 is only provided to a customer with a profilethat indicates the customer is not a working empty nester and notcurrently relaxed. Because the working empty nester attribute 565 andthe currently relaxed attribute 568 included in the example customerprofile 532 shown in FIG. 5B indicate that the customer is not a workingempty nester and is not currently relaxed, the advertisement remains apossible selection for the customer associated with the customer profile532.

The children attribute 576 is defined as a desired attribute in theadvertisement criteria 534. Accordingly, although the advertisementassociated with the advertisement criteria 534 may be provided to acustomer that does not have children, the advertisement associated withthe advertisement criteria 534 is more likely to be provided to acustomer with a profile that indicates the customer has children.Because the children attribute 566 included in the example customerprofile 532 shown in FIG. 5B indicates that the customer has school-agechildren, the advertisement is more likely to be provided to thecustomer associated with the customer profile 532 than to customerswithout children.

The large home attribute 579 specifies whether the customer has a largehome. In the example shown in FIG. 5C, the large home attribute 579indicates that this attribute is irrelevant to the decision of whetherto select the advertisement and is not considered.

As shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C, the attributes included in the examplecustomer profile 532 shown in FIG. 5B match all of the required anddesired attributes included the example advertisement criteria 534 shownin FIG. 5C. In addition, the attributes included in the example customerprofile 532 shown in FIG. 5B do not match any of the undesiredattributes included the example advertisement criteria 534 shown in FIG.5C. Accordingly, when the network operations center 530 determines thata customer has the customer profile 532 shown in FIG. 5B, the networkoperations center 530 selects the advertisement associated with theadvertisement criteria 534 shown in FIG. 5C.

FIG. 6 illustrates a process 600 for selecting personalized content andtriggering distribution of the personalized content based on sensordata. The operations in flow chart 600 are described generally as beingperformed by a processor. In some implementations, the processor may beincluded in an electronic device or system configured to send andreceive communications over a network. For instance, the processor maybe included in a monitoring system, a monitoring application server, oranother type of electronic device included in a system configured tomonitor sensor data and select electronic content based on the monitoredsensor data. The operations of process 600 may be performed by multipleprocessors included in one or more electronic devices or systems.

The processor accesses sensor data (610). For example, the processor mayreceive sensor data captured by sensors configured to sense physicalattributes of a surrounding environment. The processor may access sensordata using techniques similar to those described above with respect toreference numeral 110 and reference numeral 402.

The processor selects a presentation device (620). For example, theprocessor may access a list of possible display interfaces (orcommunication media) that a user has registered. In this example, theprocessor may access an “address book” in which the user provides all ofthe places that they would like to receive content or alertnotifications and provides preferences for particular types of contentor particular time periods. The content destinations may include, forexample, a monitoring system LCD display, a PDA, a Web-based interface(e.g., the content or alert may be displayed on a web page which thecustomer may access), an SMS or text message, an email, and a televisiondisplay. The processor may select, from among the list of possibledisplay interfaces, a particular display interface based on thepreferences of the user.

In some implementations, the processor may use the accessed sensor datato select the presentation device. For instance, a monitoring system mayinclude multiple presentation devices with which advertisements may bepresented. The processor may compare locations of the multiplepresentation devices to a location of an event indicated as beingdetected in the sensor data. Based on the comparison, the processor mayselect the presentation device included in the monitoring system that isclosest to the detected event (e.g., the processor may select an LCDdisplay in a kitchen when a motion sensor detects that a user is in thekitchen or the processor may select a speaker in a bedroom when acontact sensor included on a door to the bedroom detects that the doorhas been opened).

In other implementations, the processor may use the accessed sensor datato determine whether the user is at home. When the processor determinesthat the user is not at home based on the sensor data, the processor mayselect a portable device (e.g., a smart phone) as the presentationdevice for the content. For instance, when the sensor data indicatesthat the user is not at home and that a water sensor has detected awater leak within the house, the processor may send the user an SMS ortext message indicating that a water leak has been detected along withan advertisement for a plumber that may be able to handle the waterleak.

The selected presentation device may be used in selecting advertisementcontent for the customer. For instance, some advertisements only may beavailable for particular types of presentation devices (e.g., visualadvertisements cannot be selected when the presentation device is aspeaker and audible advertisements cannot be selected when thepresentation device is an LCD display without a speaker).

The processor determines one or more attributes based on the accessedsensor data. For instance, the processor may determine an attribute of auser of a monitoring system based on the sensor data (630). Theprocessor may determine short term attributes of a user based on sensordata. Short term attributes may be attributes that identify currentphysical behavior associated with the user that may change in arelatively short amount of time. For example, the short term attributesmay indicate that a user recently entered a home based on a userdeactivating an alarm system or may indicate the user's physicalpresence in a particular room within the home based on motion sensordata. The short term attributes also may indicate that the user hasopened a medicine cabinet based on a contact sensor configured tomonitor a door of the medicine cabinet or may indicate that a user iscurrently using an appliance based on an energy consumption sensormonitoring the appliance. The short term user attributes may beleveraged to identify content that may be relevant to the user's currentinterests or content that is useful to the user's current situation. Theshort term user attributes further may be leveraged to triggerpresentation of content in a manner that is most likely to garner theuser's attention.

In addition, the processor may determine long term attributes of a userbased on sensor data. The long term attributes may be attributes thatidentify physical attributes associated with the user that are unlikelyto change for a relatively long amount of time. The processor maydetermine the long term attributes by monitoring sensor data overrelatively long periods of time (e.g., days, weeks, months, years, etc.)and determining a profile that matches the user's monitored behaviors.For example, the processor may determine that the user has left the homefor a relatively short period of time (e.g., 1 minute) every Sundaymorning for the last three months. In this example, the processor maydetermine that the user receives a Sunday morning newspaper and isretrieving the newspaper during the relatively short period of time theuser leaves the home on Sunday mornings. In another example, theprocessor may determine presence of children in the user's home everyother week based on the sensor data (e.g., increased sensor data everyother week indicating that more people are present in the home, sensedbehaviors match those of children only every other week, etc.). In thisexample, the processor may determine that the user is divorced andshares custody of the user's children with the user's former spouse.

The processor also may determine a room designation attribute based onthe sensor data (640). The processor may determine an aspect of roombased on sensor data reflecting how the room is being used. For example,the processor may determine that a particular room is a bath room whenusers typically stay in the room for relatively short periods of time ascompared to other rooms and/or when the room includes a medicine cabinetsensor because medicine cabinets are often included in bath rooms. Inanother example, the processor may determine that a particular room is abedroom of a small child when sensor data indicates that a persontypically enters the room at 8:00 pm, the light in the room is turnedoff shortly after the person enters the room, little activity in theroom occurs in the room until the morning, and the light is not turnedon until the morning. In this example, the processor determines that thesensed behavior indicates the person is going to bed at 8:00 pm, whichis a typical bed time for a small child. Accordingly, the processordesignates the room as a bedroom of a small child.

The processor may determine a timing attribute (650). For instance, theprocessor may determine a current time of day, a current day of theweek, a current month of a year, a current season, and/or a currentyear. The processor also may determine timing information related todetected events. For example, the processor may track a time period inwhich an alarm system has been armed and may track how long ago aparticular event occurred. The timing attributes may be used to informcontent selection.

Further, the processor may determine a sensed attribute based on sensordata (660). The sensed attribute may be an attribute directly measuredor sensed by a sensor. For example, the sensed attribute may be anenvironmental attribute (e.g., air quality, temperature, water, rain,light, wind, etc.), a health monitoring attribute (e.g., blood sugar,blood pressure, bed mat sensor, prescription drug usage, etc.), anenergy consumption attribute (e.g., energy used by an appliance ordevice in a home), an identification attribute (e.g., an RFIDidentification of a tagged article, a product or brand identified basedon video data, a user identified based on video data, etc.), or anyother attribute that may be measured or sensed by a sensor.

The processor may derive attributes based on multiple sensed attributes.For instance, the processor may determine that a home has poorinsulation when, in the winter, energy consumption of the user's heatingsystem is relatively high as compared to other monitored households andtemperature within the user's house remains relatively low as comparedto other monitored households.

In some implementations, the processor may use any combination ofdetermined customer attributes (630), determined room designationattributes (640), determined timing attributes (650), and determinedsensed attributes (660) to determine profile information that reflectscharacteristics of a user or property monitored by a monitoring system.In these implementations, the processor may monitor sensor data overtime and compare combinations of determined attributes to rich profilesthat correspond to users or properties with specific characteristics.When the processor detects a match between a combination of determinedattributes and one or more profiles, the processor may determine thatthe user or property monitored by the monitoring system exhibits thespecific characteristics that correspond to the matched profiles.

Profiles may last for a relatively long period of time or be fleeting.The duration of a profile may be a function of the type of profile.Profiles also may be associated with a profile strength measure, whichis an indication of a level of confidence that the processor has in theprofile being accurate. For some profiles, the processor only may beable to determine that a profile exists in a property to a slightlikelihood, while for other profiles, a certain sensor activity maysuggest a strong likelihood of a profile being present. Additionally,third party profiles and database information may be incorporated toenhance the accuracy of sensor and video activity based profiles. Table1, below, provides examples of profiles that a processor may detect fora user or a property monitored by a monitoring system. Table 1 providesinformation that defines the profile, the duration of the profile, theprofile strength, and the profile indication, which refers to the sensordata that leads to detection of the profile.

TABLE 1 Profile Profile Profile Duration Strength Profile Indication AtHome Short Strong Internal motion sensors indicate current presence inthe home. No Short Strong Sensors indicate that home has been Vacationconsistently occupied each day with in Six similar activity patterns foreach day Months in a six month period. Spouse Short Medium Sensors usedin security system are Traveling not typically armed and then suddenlyare armed two days consecutively. Just Home, Short Strong No activity inhome from hours 11 am no Dinner to 5 pm, and then activity occursindicating home now occupied. Occupants Short Medium Sensor activitypattern indicates Currently occupants are At Home (see Relaxedindications for At Home) but not moving very often, and time is earlierthan typical sleeping hours. Indicates occupants likely watching TV orreading. Frugal Long Medium During summer, AC is set to temperatures inhighest 10% of all users while in winter, thermostat is set totemperatures in bottom 10% of all users. Hot Short Strong Externalthermocouple sensor Outside indicates that it is much hotter thanaverage for this period of calendar outside. Bed Mat Short Strong Bedmat sensor positioned on bed Sensor detects presence of liquid (e.g.,Triggered bodily fluids) on sensor. Small Long Sensor - Weekday door andinternal motion Children Medium activity is much higher than typicalImage - for a prolonged period, even during Strong school hours.Multiple rooms have simultaneous motion activity. Image analysis detectssmall inhabitants. Large Long Sensor - Home has multiple sensors definedas Home Medium external door sensors, has multiple motion, window, smokeor other sensors. Average time between external door sensor event andinternal motion sensor event is longer than typical. School Long StrongWeekday increased sensor activity Aged within two hours after 2:15 pm.Children High Long Strong Home is in zip code with higher Value averagevalues and is a Large Home Home (see Large Home indication). Heavy LongStrong Sensors detect much higher use of Energy energy than the averagehome. Consumer Working Long Medium/ Very little weekday sensor activity,Empty Strong with many days showing no weekday Nester activity duringbusiness hours.

The processor selects, from among multiple possible advertisements, anadvertisement based on the one or more determined attributes (670). Forinstance, the processor compares the determined attributes withadvertisement criteria and identifies advertisements that are likely tobe of interest to users with the determined attributes. The processormay consider any combination of the determined attributes (or profileinformation determined based on the attributes) and select anadvertisement determined to be most relevant to the customer based onthe determined attributes.

In one example, when the processor detects that the user is currentlyusing an oven, the processor may select an advertisement for acooking-related or oven-related product (e.g., a discount grocerycoupon, an oven cleaning service, a cookware advertisement, etc.) andimmediately present the selected advertisement. As another example, whenthe processor determines that the user receives a Sunday morningnewspaper, the processor may select an advertisement for a competing orcomplementing product and present the advertisement on a Sunday morning(e.g., an advertisement for a Sunday morning news television program, anadvertisement for a news-related website, an advertisement for a newtype of coffee the user may enjoy while reading a newspaper, etc.). In afurther example, when the processor determines that a user is divorcedand shares custody of the user's children every other week, theprocessor may select a first advertisement during a week in which theuser does not have custody of the user's children (e.g., anadvertisement for a Thai food restaurant) and a second advertisementduring a week in which the user has custody of the user's children(e.g., an advertisement for a pizzeria with games designed forchildren). As yet another example, when the processor determines that ahome has poor insulation, the processor may select an advertisement forenergy saving windows.

Table 2, below, provides even more examples of advertisement criteriathat a processor may consider when selecting an advertisement for auser. Table 2 provides information that describes the content, therequired profiles for selecting the content, the desired profiles forselecting the content, the delivery medium, and the delivery times.

The required profiles refer to customer profiles or attributes that thecustomer must have in order for the processor to select thecorresponding content. If the customer does not have any one of therequired profiles, the processor removes the corresponding content fromconsideration. The desired profiles refer to customer profiles orattributes that the customer is preferred to have in selecting thecorresponding content. The desired profiles may be considered whenattributes of the customer match the required profiles for multiplepieces of content (e.g., advertisements). In this regard, the processormay select, from among the multiple pieces of content, the content withwhich the customer has attributes matching the most desired profiles(e.g., the processor may select a first advertisement over a secondadvertisement when attributes of the customer match one desired profileof the first advertisement, but do not match any of the desired profilesfor the second advertisement).

The delivery medium refers to where the processor presents the selectedcontent. The delivery medium field may define a priority list ofpossible mediums (e.g., the selected content is presented using thefirst medium in the list the customer has registered for contentdelivery, the selected content is presented to the user successively inan order of the mediums in the list until confirmation is received fromthe user that the content has been perceived, etc.). The delivery mediumfield also may define multiple mediums and the selected content may bepresented concurrently using each of the multiple mediums. The deliverymedium field may be used in selecting the presentation device describedabove with respect to reference numeral 620.

The delivery time field refers to the time in which the processorpresents selected content to the user. The delivery time may beimmediate or may relate to an event monitored by the alarm system. Forinstance, the processor may present selected content in response totriggering of a sensor included in the alarm system or upondetermination of a particular attribute of the customer based on thesensor data.

TABLE 2 Content Required Desired Delivery Delivery Description Profile/sProfile/s Medium/s Time Instant coupon for 1) Just home, 1) Working 1)In-home Immediate upon delivery of Thai no dinner empty-nesters displaydetection of Just Food 2) At Home 2) TV Home, no dinner 3) SMS profileInstant coupon for 1) Just home, 1) Small 1) In-home Immediate upondelivery of Pizza no dinner Children display detection of Just 2) AtHome 2) School Age 2) TV Home, no dinner Children profile Sale thisweekend 1) Frugal 2) Large Home 1) In-home Thursday, after on low energy3) Hot Outside display 5:30 pm, and when light-bulbs 2) Email profilesOccupant 3) Web Relaxed and At Home exist. Last-minute special 1) NoVacation 1) In-home Next point when At on flights from in Six Monthsdisplay Home and Occupants DCA to Bahamas Relaxed both active profilesif before 8:30 pm. Lawn service 1) Hot Outside 1) Large Home 1) in-homeImmediate available 2) Small display Children 2) email Linen Service 1)Bed Mat 1) in-home Immediate or Coupon Sensor display Morning after timeTriggered 2) email when sensor triggered

The processor also may consider profile strength in selectingadvertisements. For example, when attributes of the customer match theprofiles for multiple pieces of content (e.g., advertisements), thestrength of the profile determination by the processor may be consideredin selecting between the multiple pieces of content. In this example,the processor may select a first advertisement over a secondadvertisement when attributes of the customer that match the firstadvertisement criteria have a strong profile strength and attributes ofthe customer that match the second advertisement criteria have a mediumprofile strength.

The processor triggers presentation of the selected advertisement on theselected presentation device (680). For instance, the processor triggerspresentation of the selected advertisement on the selected presentationdevice based on the delivery time corresponding to the selectedadvertisement. The processor may trigger presentation of the selectedadvertisement immediately upon selection or may store the selectedpresentation and trigger presentation of the selected advertisement at aparticular time and/or upon detection of a particular event detected bythe alarm system.

Referring to FIG. 7, a diagram 700 illustrates examples of personalizedcontent presentation using sensor data. The diagram 700 represents afloor plan of a user's home and illustrates various examples of howmonitoring system data (and monitoring system output devices) may beleveraged in driving personalized content delivery.

The diagram 700 includes a contact sensor 702 located on a door to achild's bedroom. The room may have been designated as a child's bedroombased on sensor data using techniques similar to those described abovewith respect to reference numeral 640 in FIG. 6. When the contact sensor702 detects opening of the door to the child's bedroom, the monitoringsystem may control a display device 704 included in the child's bedroomto display an advertisement directed to a child. The display of theadvertisement directed to the child may be triggered in response toopening of the door to draw attention to the advertisement and increasethe likelihood that the advertisement is perceived by the child. Thedisplay device 704 may be a television included in the child's bedroomthat the monitoring system is capable of controlling.

The diagram 700 also includes a contact sensor 706 located on a door toa medicine cabinet included in a bath room. When the contact sensor 706detects opening of the door to the medicine cabinet, the monitoringsystem may control a speaker 708 included in the bath room to output anadvertisement related to medicine (e.g., a sale being offered by apharmacy). The bath room further may include an RFID sensor 714 that isconfigured to detect a bottle 710 when the bottle 710 is removed fromthe medicine cabinet and includes an RFID tag 712.

The monitoring system may select the advertisement based on thedetection of the bottle. For instance, when the bottle 710 includesbrand name prescription medication, the monitoring system may select anadvertisement for generic medication that achieves the same effect ofthe brand name prescription medication and that is available for a lowercost. When the bottle 710 includes a particular type of herbalsupplement, the monitoring system may select an advertisement for aretail establishment that sells herbal supplements or select anadvertisement for another type of herbal supplement that is frequentlyused in combination with the particular type of herbal supplementincluded in the bottle 710. The monitoring system also may infer anattribute of the user based on the bottle 710 and select anadvertisement based on the inferred attribute. For example, when thebottle 710 includes prescription medication often or only taken by aparticular type of person, the monitoring system may select anadvertisement directed to the particular type of person (e.g., when themedicine is often taken by elderly citizens, the monitoring system mayselect an advertisement that refers to senior discounts offered by alocal movie theater).

The diagram 700 includes a contact sensor 716 located on a door to aguest room. The room may have been designated as a guest room based onsensor data indicating that the room is used infrequently. When thecontact sensor 716 detects opening of the door to the guest room, themonitoring system may control a display device 718 included in the guestroom to display a default or generic advertisement because themonitoring system is unable to infer attributes of the user entering theguest room with a high degree of confidence. The display of the defaultor generic advertisement may be triggered in response to opening of thedoor to draw attention to the advertisement and increase the likelihoodthat the advertisement is perceived by the person entering the guestroom. The display device 718 may be a television included in the guestroom that the monitoring system is capable of controlling.

The diagram 700 includes a sensor 722 located on a refrigerator includedin the user's home. The sensor 722 may be configured to detect openingof the refrigerator door 720 or another attribute related to therefrigerator (e.g., energy consumption, freshness of food inrefrigerator, types of food in the refrigerator, etc.). When the sensor722 detects opening or closing of the refrigerator door 720, themonitoring system may control a display device 724 located near therefrigerator to display an advertisement related to food or drinkbecause the user is likely interested in food or drink when accessingthe refrigerator. When the sensor 722 detects another attribute relatedto the refrigerator, the monitoring system may select an advertisementbased on the detected attribute. For instance, when the sensor 722detects that energy consumption of the refrigerator is relatively high,the monitoring system may present an advertisement for a newenergy-efficient refrigerator. The display device 724 may be an LCDdisplay included in another appliance (or the refrigerator itself) thatthe monitoring system is capable of controlling.

The diagram 700 further includes a contact sensor 726 located on a doorto a parent's bedroom. The room may have been designated as a parent'sbedroom based on sensor data using techniques similar to those describedabove with respect to reference numeral 640 in FIG. 6. When the contactsensor 726 detects opening of the door to the parent's bedroom, themonitoring system may control a display device 728 included in theparent's bedroom to display an advertisement directed to a parent. Thedisplay of the advertisement directed to the parent may be triggered inresponse to opening of the door to draw attention to the advertisementand increase the likelihood that the advertisement is perceived by theparent. The display device 728 may be a television included in theparent's bedroom that the monitoring system is capable of controlling.

The diagram 700 includes an air quality sensor 730 and a temperaturesensor 731, which may be used by the monitoring system to select theadvertisement to display to the parent. For example, when the airquality sensor 730 detects that the air quality in the home is poor, themonitoring system may present a message indicating that the air qualityin the home is poor and present an advertisement for an environmentalfilter that is designed to improve air quality. In another example, whenthe temperature sensor 731 detects that the temperature in the home isrelatively warm, the monitoring system may present an advertisement fora fan (e.g., a ceiling fan) that may be used to provide additionalcooling for the parent's bedroom.

The diagram 700 also includes a contact sensor 732 located on a door toa dad's closet and a contact sensor 736 located on a door to a mom'scloset. The closets may have been assigned to the dad and mom,respectively, during installation of the monitoring system or may havebeen assigned automatically based on sensor data reflecting thefrequency of door openings and times with which the doors have beenopened (e.g., using techniques similar to those described above withrespect to reference numeral 640 in FIG. 6). When the contact sensor 732detects opening of the door to the dad's closet, the monitoring systemmay control a speaker 734 included in the dad's closet to output anadvertisement directed to the dad. When the contact sensor 736 detectsopening of the door to the mom's closet, the monitoring system maycontrol a speaker 738 included in the mom's closet to output anadvertisement directed to the mom.

In addition, the diagram 700 includes a motion sensor 740 located in ahallway. When the motion sensor 740 detects motion of a person 744 inthe hallway, the monitoring system controls a display device 742 todisplay a customized advertisement. The display device 742 may be an LCDdisplay included in a monitoring panel configured to control themonitoring system.

The monitoring system may infer the identity of the person 744 in thehallway using past sensor data and select the customized advertisementbased on the past sensor data. For example, in FIG. 7, the person 744 isshown as exiting the parent's room. In this example, the monitoringsystem detects opening of the door to the parent's room using thecontact sensor 726 just prior to detecting motion of the person 744 inthe hallway using the motion sensor 740. Accordingly, the monitoringsystem infers that the person 744 detected in the hallway in one of theparents (i.e., the dad or the mom). Based on the inference that theperson 744 detected in the hallway in one of the parents, the monitoringsystem may select a customized advertisement directed generally to aparent.

Alternatively, the monitoring system may consider additional sensor datato infer whether the person 744 detected in the hallway is the mom orthe dad. For instance, the monitoring system may determine, based onsensor data captured by the contact sensors 732 and 736, that the mom'scloset was accessed less than one minute prior to the contact sensor 726detecting opening of the door to the parent's room, but that the dad'scloset was last accessed several hours prior to the contact sensor 726detecting opening of the door to the parent's room. In this case, themonitoring system infers that the person 744 detected in the hallway isthe mom and selects an advertisement directed to the mom.

FIG. 8 illustrates a process 800 for coordinating order fulfillment withrespect to offers presented to a customer based on sensor data. Theoperations in flow chart 800 are described generally as being performedby a processor. In some implementations, the processor may be includedin an electronic device or system configured to send and receivecommunications over a network. For instance, the processor may beincluded in a monitoring system, a monitoring application server, oranother type of electronic device included in a system configured tomonitor sensor data and select electronic content based on the monitoredsensor data. The operations of process 800 may be performed by multipleprocessors included in one or more electronic devices or systems.

The processor presents an advertisement to a user in a manner in whichthe user may accept an offer (810). For instance, the processor maydisplay the advertisement in an interactive user interface with userinput controls that the user may select to accept the offer. FIG. 9depicts an example of a user interface that may be used to display anadvertisement.

Referring to FIG. 9, the processor may cause display of a user interface900 for coordinating order fulfillment. In particular, the userinterface 900 includes an advertisement presented to a user in a mannerin which the user may accept an offer. The user interface 900 may bedisplayed on a display included in a client device that is associatedwith a customer of an alarm system. For instance, the user interface 900may be displayed on an electronic display (e.g., an LCD display, aplasma display, etc.) included in an alarm panel of the alarm system ormay be displayed on an electronic display included in a customerelectronic device (e.g., a computer, a PDA, a smart phone, a television,etc.).

The user interface 900 includes an offer message 910. The offer messageindicates parameters of an offer with which the user may accept. Forexample, as shown, the offer message 910 indicates that prime beef isavailable, for the next two hours, at $9.99/lb. from Steve'sLocally-Raised Organic Meats. In this example, the offer may be made bya mobile vendor that is located in an area that is close to the alarmsystem and offering a particular type of product (e.g., prime beef). Inthis regard, the processor may compare the position of the mobile vendorto positions of alarm systems configured to receive advertisements andselect alarm systems that are within a threshold distance of the mobilevendor. The selected alarm systems may dynamically change as theposition of the mobile vendor changes and the offer may be good for alimited period of time (e.g., a time in which the mobile vendor isscheduled to be in an area within a threshold distance of an alarmsystem). The offer may be associated with any type of vendor (e.g., anInternet vendor, a mobile vendor, a delivery service, a brick and mortarstore, etc.) and may be for any type of item.

The user interface 900 also includes an accept offer input control 920,a decline offer input control 930, a more information input control 940,and an initiate call input control 950. The input controls 920 to 950may be interface buttons configured to receive user selections andprovide a signal to the processor based on received user selections.When the accept offer input control 920 is selected by a user, theprocessor initiates a process to fulfill the offer based on the user'sacceptance. When the decline offer input control 930 is selected by auser, the processor removes the user interface 900 from the display andtakes no action with respect to the offer presented to the user. Whenthe more information input control 940 is selected by a user, theprocessor gathers more information related to the offer and presents thegathered information to the user. The gathered information may includemore detailed information related to the offer, ratings of a good orservice provider included in the offer, statistics indicating whetherother users have accepted the offer, or any other type informationrelated to the offer. When the initiate call input control 950 isselected by a user, the processor initiates a process that results in acall between the user and the good or service provider. By arranging acall (e.g., using a two-way voice interface of the alarm system) betweenthe user and the good or service provider, the user may ask the good orservice provider questions related to the offer and may negotiatechanges to parameters of the offer with the good or service provider andmay accept a modified offer.

The processor receives, from the user, user input related to the offer(820). For instance, the processor receives user input based on theuser's interaction with the interface 900 and the input controls 920 to950. The processor may receive other types of user input (e.g., voicecommands) related to the offer.

The processor determines whether the user has accepted the offer basedon the user input related to the offer (830). The processor analyzes theuser input and determines whether the user input indicates a desire toaccept the offer. As discussed above with respect to FIG. 9, theprocessor may determine that the user input indicates a desire to acceptthe offer, decline the offer, receive more information related to theoffer, or initiate a phone call to a vendor making the offer.

In response to determining that the user has accepted the offer, theprocessor sends order information to a vendor associated with the offerto enable order fulfillment (840). For instance, the processor may sendoffer acceptance information to the vendor to enable the vendor tofulfill the order. The offer acceptance information may include customerinformation and parameters of the offer accepted by the customer toenable the vendor to provide the good or service to the customer andreceive compensation from the customer accordingly. The processor alsomay, upon acceptance of the offer, coordinate a phone call (or othercommunication session) between the customer and the vendor to enable thecustomer to confirm offer acceptance with the vendor and provide thevendor with any information that the vendor needs to fulfill the order.The processor further may provide an order confirmation message to thecustomer to confirm that the order is being fulfilled by the vendor.

Referring to FIG. 10, the processor also may cause display of a userinterface 1000 for coordinating order fulfillment. In particular, theuser interface 1000 indicates that the offer has been accepted and isbeing fulfilled. The user interface 1000 may be displayed on a displayincluded in a client device that is associated with a customer of analarm system. For instance, the user interface 1000 may be displayed onan electronic display (e.g., an LCD display, a plasma display, etc.)included in an alarm panel of the alarm system or may be displayed on anelectronic display included in a customer electronic device (e.g., acomputer, a PDA, a smart phone, a television, etc.).

The user interface 1000 includes an order confirmation message thatindicates that the offer has been accepted and that provides informationrelated to fulfillment of the offer. For example, as shown, the orderconfirmation message indicates that Steve's Locally-Raised Organic Meatswill deliver two pounds of prime beef to the user's home within the nexttwo hours. The order confirmation message also indicates a quantity ofthe good ordered (e.g., two pounds) and a price of the good ordered. Theprocessor may dynamically update the order confirmation message by, forexample, reducing the estimated delivery time as the vendor approachesthe user's home.

The processor tracks user input associated with presented offers forfuture advertisement selection (850). For instance, the processor maystore user input related to the user's response to offers presented touser. The stored user input may reflect the type of offer, theparameters of the offer, and whether the user accepted or declined theoffer. The processor may analyze the stored user input to determine whattypes of offers the user prefers to receive and what types of offers theuser does not prefer. In this regard, for future offers andadvertisements, the processor may be able to select offers andadvertisements similar to the types of offers the user prefers and avoidtypes of offers the user does not prefer.

In further implementations, a system may be configured to providepersonalized advertising content through a security system interface.The system communicates personalized electronic advertising content to asecurity system that monitors a building (e.g., a user's home) and thesecurity system displays or otherwise communicates the advertisingcontent to persons in the building being monitored by the securitysystem (e.g., using an LCD display, a speaker, etc.). Users of thesecurity system may receive free or reduced fee security monitoringservices by agreeing to have advertisements displayed through thesecurity system and/or by using advertisements displayed through thesecurity system. The LCD messaging capability on many appliances, suchas a security system, a microwave oven, an oven, a thermostat, or arefrigerator, may be leveraged in providing advertising content togenerate additional revenue by providing relevant, desired advertisingcontent to a home or business owner or occupant.

For instance, security systems may be expensive to install and manycustomers may not be able to pay the full cost of a system installation.To enable service, security system providers may offer the system at ahighly subsidized price in hopes of recovering the investment that hasbeen made in the security equipment and installation by charging thecustomer a relatively high monthly service charge. Customers may belimited to those who can afford either a high upfront expense forinstallation or a high recurring monthly service fee. Other customersmay be prevented from receiving the peace of mind enabled by a securitysystem. In this regard, if a user agrees to allow the security systemprovider to use sensor data derived from the security system to drivepersonalized advertising content, the security system provider may beable to offer the security system to the user for a reduced fee becausethe security system provider may be able to gain additional advertisingrevenue to offset the reduced fees for the security system installationand/or security monitoring services.

FIG. 11 illustrates a process 1100 for providing a reduced feeassociated with an alarm system based on an agreement of a customer toallow advertising content to be presented to the customer based on alarmsystem data. The operations in flow chart 1100 are described generallyas being performed by a processor. In some implementations, theprocessor may be included in an electronic device or system configuredto send and receive communications over a network. For instance, theprocessor may be included in a monitoring system, a monitoringapplication server, or another type of electronic device included in asystem configured to monitor sensor data and select electronic contentbased on the monitored sensor data. The operations of process 1100 maybe performed by multiple processors included in one or more electronicdevices or systems.

The processor obtains an agreement with a user allowing advertisingcontent to be delivered using alarm system data (1110). The processormay receive data communications indicating that the user agrees to allowadvertising content to be delivered using alarm system data. Forinstance, the processor receives, either directly or via a network,customer agreement information entered by the customer through aninterface (e.g., a Web interface). The processor also may receivecustomer agreement information from another electronic device, throughan electronic message (e.g., email message) sent by the customer, orbased on input entered by a data entry technician entering informationreceived from the customer in printed form or in voice communications.The customer agreement information may include an agreement reachedduring installation or registration of an alarm system offered by amonitoring service provider. In some examples, the customer agreementinformation may include an agreement to receive advertising contentthrough an alarm system interface, an agreement to use alarm systemsensor data in targeting advertisements to the user through othercommunication mediums, and/or an agreement to allow the alarm serviceprovider to provide sensor data and/or attributes of the user determinedbased on sensor data to a third party source to enable the third partysource to target advertisements to the user. The customer agreementinformation also may include the reduced fee the user is receiving byagreeing to allow advertising content to be delivered using alarm systemdata.

The reduced fee may be a reduced installation fee, a reduced securitymonitoring fee, and/or a reduced fee for additional services offered bythe alarm system provider (e.g., a reduced fee for two-way voicecapability, a reduced fee for custom threat alerting, etc.).

The customer agreement information also may reflect user selectionbetween different tiers of advertising agreements. As one example, auser may be able to select between four tiers of advertising agreements.A first tier may provide no advertising content to be delivered usingalarm system data and a full price for a security monitoring fee. Asecond tier may allow a single advertisement to be delivered on an LCDinterface of the alarm system each day for a first reduced securitymonitoring fee that is lower than the full price. A third tier may allowthree advertisements to be delivered based on alarm system data each daythrough any communication medium chosen by the alarm service providerfor a second reduced security monitoring fee that is lower than thefirst reduced security monitoring fee. A fourth tier may allow anunlimited number advertisements to be delivered based on alarm systemdata each day through any communication medium chosen by the alarmservice provider and may allow the alarm service provider to providesensor data and/or attributes of the user determined based on sensordata to a third party source to enable the third party source to targetadvertisements to the user. Agreement to the fourth tier may result inno fee for security monitoring services.

In some implementations, a user of the security system may, via varioususer input mechanisms, permit the security system operator to provideadvertising content through an output device (e.g., the LCD display) ofthe security system. For example, the user may allow the security systemoperator (e.g., an intermediary alarm server) to provide the user withone coupon each day for services, meals, or merchandise in their localzip code.

The processor delivers advertising content using the alarm system data(1120). For example, the processor may deliver advertising content usingthe alarm system data using any of the techniques described above fordelivering personalized, relevant advertising content.

The processor reduces a fee associated with the alarm system based onthe agreement to allow advertising content to be delivered using thealarm system data (1130). For instance, the processor may reduce aninstallation fee for the user, reduce a security monitoring fee for theuser, and/or reduce a fee for additional services offered by the alarmsystem provider (e.g., a reduced fee for two-way voice capability, areduced fee for custom threat alerting, etc.). The processor also maytrack the delivery of advertising content to ensure the user iscomplying with the agreement prior to agreeing to reduce the feeassociated with the alarm system.

The processor arranges payment with advertisers (1140). For example, theprocessor provides bills to the advertisers based on provision ofadvertising using the alarm system data and according to advertisingagreements between the advertisers and the alarm service provider. Thealarm service provider may choose to share advertising revenue with asecurity service provider (e.g., a security system equipment providerand/or security monitoring station), or the equipment manufacturer, orthe customer. The alarm service provider (e.g., an alarm or contentserver) may offer advertisers an opportunity to pay per notification fordistribution of their coupon or promotion, or alternatively, allow theadvertiser to participate in an auction process whereby the advertiserbids for the right to have their notification delivered to the customer.The alarm service provider may choose to charge the advertiser when anotification is delivered, when receipt of a notification is confirmedby a customer recipient by pushing a button on a control panel, or whena customer responds to the notification (e.g., uses a coupon) bycontacting the advertiser and using the promotion which was presented tothe subscriber in the notification.

In some implementations, the customer may be able to pay for some or allof their security service fees by simply using the valuable advertisingcoupons that are presented to them on some recurring frequency on theuser's security control panel. In this way, the security system provider(e.g., a security system equipment provider and/or security monitoringstation) and the security subscription operator (e.g., an alarm orcontent server) may be able to offer the customer far more affordablesecurity services allowing them to obtain the peace of mind and safety.The customer may be able to pay for some or all of their securityservice fees by simply allowing advertisements to be presented throughthe user's security system. The system may be configured such that auser of the security system may not be able to turn an advertisement offonce the advertisement has begun playing.

In further implementations, video content analysis may be fused withsensor content to generate relevant content or actions. Using videoanalytics, a processor may determine things like the weather outside(e.g., with outdoor cameras, or cameras pointed outside), whose car isin the driveway, how old the car is, whether it might need a wash, whois actually in the house, whether they seem hurried or relaxed (e.g., ifthe customer allows analysis of the video images of the customer), howmany people reside there, who visits often, and potentially even thingslike what ingredients they use when cooking and whether or not the jarof mayonnaise just used is nearly full or nearly empty. Electroniccontent may be selected and delivered based on any information derivedusing video content analysis.

In additional implementations, a mobile vendor may be fused withprofiles of property owners and current attributes of the mobile vendor.With the profiles developed about a property or a user, mobile vendorsmay be able to offer enhanced services. For instance, without profilebased targeting, an ice cream man may be driving through a neighborhoodringing his bell and hoping that children might come out. Using profilebased targeting, instead, the ice cream man may drive through theneighborhood and have an ice cream advertisement indicating the icecream man's presence on the street presented to all of the homeowners onthe street, or to the homeowners who are home, or to the ones who havechildren, or to the ones who are home and have children and havepreviously responded to advertisements from the ice cream man.

In other examples, different mobile vendors also may use profile basedtargeting described throughout the disclosure. For example, a mobilevendor may be selling bio-diesel fuel, or allowing at-home ATMwithdrawals, or filling prescription drugs to those who need renewals,or providing fresh meat and vegetables for dinner, or restocking dad'sbeer fridge. The mobile vendor drives through the neighborhood,broadcasting his advertisement to the monitoring application server. Themonitoring application server then determines who is home, who has a dadthat might crave beer, whose car is nearly depleted of bio-diesel fuel,which households seem to prepare fresh meals at home, etc., with suchdeterminations made by observing sensor data from sensors included in amonitoring system, and potentially analyzing video from the property.Having identified targets of local customers that may be interested in aproduct of the mobile vendor, the monitoring application server presentsadvertisements from the mobile vendor to identified homes on electronicdisplays (e.g., touch screen displays), perhaps accompanied by a chime.

The described systems, methods, and techniques may be implemented indigital electronic circuitry, computer hardware, or in combinations ofthese elements and software. Apparatus implementing these techniques mayinclude appropriate input and output devices, a computer processor, anda computer program product tangibly embodied in a machine-readablestorage device for execution by a programmable processor. A processimplementing these techniques may be performed by a programmableprocessor executing a program of instructions to perform desiredfunctions by operating on input data and generating appropriate output.The techniques may be implemented in one or more computer programs thatare executable on a programmable system including at least oneprogrammable processor coupled to receive data and instructions from,and to transmit data and instructions to, a data storage system, atleast one input device, and at least one output device. Each computerprogram may be implemented in a high-level procedural or object-orientedprogramming language, or in assembly or machine language if desired; andin any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language.Suitable processors include, by way of example, both general and specialpurpose microprocessors. Generally, a processor will receiveinstructions and data from a read-only memory and/or a random accessmemory. Storage devices suitable for tangibly embodying computer programinstructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory,including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, such asErasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), and flash memory devices;magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks;magneto-optical disks; and Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM). Anyof the foregoing may be supplemented by, or incorporated in,specially-designed ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits).

It will be understood that various modifications may be made. Forexample, other useful implementations could be achieved if steps of thedisclosed techniques were performed in a different order and/or ifcomponents in the disclosed systems were combined in a different mannerand/or replaced or supplemented by other components. Accordingly, otherimplementations are within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A monitoring application server for using datarelated to a monitoring system to deliver personalized relevant content,the monitoring application server comprising: at least one processor;and at least one computer-readable storage medium coupled to the atleast one processor having stored thereon instructions which, whenexecuted by the at least one processor, causes the at least oneprocessor to perform operations comprising: receiving data related to amonitoring system, the monitoring system being located at a property ofa customer and including one or more sensors configured to senseattributes at the property; accessing customer information associatedwith the customer of the monitoring system; accessing profiling datarelated to monitoring system usage by customers; comparing the receiveddata related to the monitoring system with the accessed profiling data;based on the accessed customer information and the comparison of thereceived data related to the monitoring system with the accessedprofiling data, determining a profile for the customer of the monitoringsystem; using the determined profile to select relevant electroniccontent for the customer; and sending the selected electronic content toat least one interface used by the customer.
 2. The monitoringapplication server of claim 1, wherein using the determined profile toselect relevant electronic content for the customer comprises: comparingat least one attribute associated with the determined profile withelectronic content criteria associated with electronic content availablefor provision by the monitoring application server; and selectingelectronic content for provision to the customer based on the comparisonof the at least one attribute with the electronic content criteria. 3.The monitoring application server of claim 1, wherein the selectedelectronic content is selected advertising content.
 4. The monitoringapplication server of claim 1, wherein: the monitoring system comprisesa security system configured to provide security monitoring operationsassociated with the property of the customer of the monitoring system;and the monitoring application server is configured to exchangecommunications with the security system to facilitate securitymonitoring for the property of the customer of the monitoring system. 5.The monitoring application server of claim 1, wherein the selectedelectronic content is selected advertising content and the monitoringapplication server is configured to send the selected advertisingcontent to at least one interface used by the customer by presenting theadvertising content in a manner in which the customer is able to acceptan offer included in the advertising content through interaction withthe interface.
 6. The monitoring application server of claim 5, whereinthe monitoring application server is configured to: track offeracceptance information based on a determination of whether the customeraccepted the offer; and select future advertising content based on thetracked offer acceptance information.
 7. The monitoring applicationserver of claim 1, wherein receiving data related to the monitoringsystem comprises receiving data that reflects attributes of the propertyin which the monitoring system is located.
 8. The monitoring applicationserver of claim 1, wherein receiving data related to the monitoringsystem comprises receiving, from the monitoring system, sensor data thatis generated by the one or more sensors included in the monitoringsystem.
 9. The monitoring application server of claim 8, whereinreceiving sensor data comprises receiving motion sensor data and contactsensor data that reflects patterns of motion sensor events and contactsensor events.
 10. The monitoring application server of claim 9: whereinaccessing profiling data related to monitoring system usage by customerscomprises accessing profiling data that relates to schedules of leavingand returning to properties; wherein comparing the received data relatedto the monitoring system with the accessed profiling data comprises:identifying, for the customer of the monitoring system, a schedule ofleaving and returning to the property of the customer of the monitoringsystem based on the patterns of motion sensor events and contact sensorevents, and evaluating the identified schedule of leaving and returningto the property of the customer of the monitoring system against theaccessed profiling data; wherein determining the profile for thecustomer of the monitoring system comprises determining the profile forthe customer of the monitoring system based on the evaluation of theidentified schedule of leaving and returning to the property of thecustomer of the monitoring system against the accessed profiling data.11. A method for using data related to a monitoring system to deliverpersonalized relevant content, the method comprising: receiving datarelated to a monitoring system, the monitoring system being located at aproperty of a customer and including one or more sensors configured tosense attributes at the property; accessing customer informationassociated with the customer of the monitoring system; accessingprofiling data related to monitoring system usage by customers;comparing the received data related to the monitoring system with theaccessed profiling data; based on the accessed customer information andthe comparison of the received data related to the monitoring systemwith the accessed profiling data, determining a profile for the customerof the monitoring system; using the determined profile to selectrelevant electronic content for the customer; and sending the selectedelectronic content to at least one interface used by the customer. 12.The method of claim 11, wherein using the determined profile to selectrelevant electronic content for the customer comprises: comparing atleast one attribute associated with the determined profile withelectronic content criteria associated with electronic content availablefor provision by the monitoring application server; and selectingelectronic content for provision to the customer based on the comparisonof the at least one attribute with the electronic content criteria. 13.The method of claim 11, wherein the selected electronic content isselected advertising content.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein themonitoring system comprises a security system configured to providesecurity monitoring operations associated with the property of thecustomer of the monitoring system, and the method comprises exchangingcommunications with the security system to facilitate securitymonitoring for the property of the customer of the monitoring system.15. The method of claim 11, wherein the selected electronic content isselected advertising content and the method comprises presenting theadvertising content in a manner in which the customer is able to acceptan offer included in the advertising content through interaction withthe interface.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising: trackingoffer acceptance information based on a determination of whether thecustomer accepted the offer; and selecting future advertising contentbased on the tracked offer acceptance information.
 17. The method ofclaim 11, wherein receiving data related to the monitoring systemcomprises receiving data that reflects attributes of the property inwhich the monitoring system is located.
 18. The method of claim 11,wherein receiving data related to the monitoring system comprisesreceiving, from the monitoring system, sensor data that is generated bythe one or more sensors included in the monitoring system.
 19. Themethod of claim 18, wherein receiving sensor data comprises receivingmotion sensor data and contact sensor data that reflects patterns ofmotion sensor events and contact sensor events.
 20. The method of claim19: wherein accessing profiling data related to monitoring system usageby customers comprises accessing profiling data that relates toschedules of leaving and returning to properties; wherein comparing thereceived data related to the monitoring system with the accessedprofiling data comprises: identifying, for the customer of themonitoring system, a schedule of leaving and returning to the propertyof the customer of the monitoring system based on the patterns of motionsensor events and contact sensor events, and evaluating the identifiedschedule of leaving and returning to the property of the customer of themonitoring system against the accessed profiling data; whereindetermining the profile for the customer of the monitoring systemcomprises determining the profile for the customer of the monitoringsystem based on the evaluation of the identified schedule of leaving andreturning to the property of the customer of the monitoring systemagainst the accessed profiling data.